Dreena Reed has Medicare coverage, so she wasn’t personally affected when Textron Aviation cut off striking workers’ health insurance. But she’s worried about her daughter’s family. Her son-in-law is also on strike, and the company-sponsored health insurance covers him, Reed’s daughter and their kids. “That just goes to show that they’re not caring about their […]
Economics
The Wichita Beacon provides the latest Economics news impacting you and your local communities in Wichita, Kansas.
Posted inHealth
An Overland Park pharmacist quit the drug insurance game. He says it could save you money
Nick Romo spent a decade as a pharmacist under the rule of insurance companies and their middlemen. Too often, customers couldn’t get the drugs their doctors prescribed or ran into prices so high they walked away empty-handed. So two years ago, he opened Pharmington Drugs in south Overland Park in rebellion against it all. “I […]
Posted inLabor
Troubled Boeing is absorbing Spirit with the Wichita economy in the balance
For Ed Ball, everything old is new again in the aviation industry. He began working at Metal Finishing Co. 25 years ago and watched Boeing spin off Spirit AeroSystems in 2005. Now Ball is a vice president at the aviation supplier, and he’s watching history reverse itself as Boeing buys back Spirit. “We have long-term […]
Posted inCivic Engagement
Sedgwick County regulators hold up giant solar farm on Wichita’s outskirts amid objections from neighbors
Sedgwick County appeared poised to follow its ban on wind farms with widely vetted regulations that would allow acre after acre of solar panels pumping renewable energy into the electrical grid. Instead, the county still has a moratorium on the construction of large-scale solar farms. “Boils down to a simple phrase: not in my backyard,” […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas lawmakers pass tax cuts. Here’s how they compare to past plans
This article was updated after the governor signed the bill. Kansans will see income and property tax relief after a tax cut plan became law. Passing taxes has been a headache all session, but lawmakers returned to Topeka on Tuesday and approved a plan that was negotiated by the Democratic governor and Republican leaders in […]
Posted inEconomics
Wichita families struggle to survive as the economy thrives
One set of numbers suggests a booming Wichita economy. Wichita’s unemployment rate stood at about 3.3% in March, slightly lower than the national rate of 3.8%, both at near historic lows. National inflation has fallen from post-pandemic highs topping 8% to more manageable levels below 4% for nearly a year. Yet 40% of Sedgwick County […]
Posted inEconomics, Health, Housing
Kansas is injecting $205 million into a biomedical campus. How it changes downtown Wichita
It is closing in on a weekday lunch hour with few signs of life on an April morning at the southeast corner of Broadway Avenue and East William Street. On the corner, a parking lot. To the west, the distinctive Depression-era Petroleum Building sits empty. To the south and east, toward the Intrust Bank Arena, […]
Posted inEconomics, Health
Wichita’s biomedical campus aims to build tech and variety into health care training
A $300 million project about to be built downtown will give Wichita State University a unique opportunity to give students the most modern training possible in a health care world that is undergoing “tectonic” changes, says Gregory Hand, WSU dean of the College of Health Professions. As health care becomes more about teamwork among doctors, […]
Posted inEconomics, Education
Why the FAFSA is so hard this year, and where to get help in Wichita
An updated version of the FAFSA, shorter and intended to be easier than previous editions, was released months later than usual. Then website malfunctions hindered families trying to complete the application.
Posted inEconomics, Health
With a casino on their phones, more Kansas gamblers risk addiction
Takeaways: When Andrew Gallamore clocks out of work at his job in Bonner Springs, he clicks on his phone. Sometimes, to bet. His DraftKings app makes dropping $5 or $10 on a prop bet so easy. And once he’s back home in Missouri, having even a few dollars riding on how many points a player […]